One Nation belongs somewhere, but not parliament

I thought Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party couldn’t sink any lower, but last week we finally saw it could. Now it’s time for Australia to face facts about this joke of a “party” — once and for all, writes Paul Williams.

Given the number of lines of public decency Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has walked over in its 20 years of petty posturing, it’s surprising its MPs don’t slug the taxpayer for new boots.

But just when you thought PHON had hit rock bottom we see PHON’s backroom boys reach for their shovels.

I thought PHON couldn’t sink lower than turning the Senate into a disgraceful media circus by its leader brazenly wearing a burqa, or by selling out Queensland in 2017 by promising West Australian voters we’d subsidise their GST shortfalls.

But last week we saw it could. Even those of us who’ve watched this joke of a “party” closely for two decades could not have predicted this outfit — so long and so proudly touting it stands up only for Australia — would so easily sell us out to foreign interests.

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But sell out they did. PHON’s Queensland leader Steve Dickson and senior adviser James Ashby have been caught red-handed, on video, dealing with an organisation hellbent on loosening Australia’s gun laws.

But this time PHON’s blunder is so much worse. This time surely no one but the looniest of the loony right can defend PHON’s appalling actions.

There’s nothing defensible about Pauline Hanson’s actions of late. Picture: AAP/Lukas Coch

And how will they defend PHON? Here’s a dozen of the more common lame excuses I hear every week.

1. At least Pauline isn’t a professional politician.

Really? After standing as a candidate at 10 state and federal elections over 20 years, and accepting the salary and public funding that goes with them, she’s does a pretty good impression of one.

2. At least Pauline isn’t a political hypocrite like mainstream pollies.

Really? Is that why she flip-flopped — three policy positions in the space of 72 hours — on corporate tax cuts last year? Or why her party sought NRA support despite her own Senate vote just weeks later to ban foreign donations? Or her insistence that other MPs be punished over their use of travel allowances despite having to defend a taxpayer-funded trip to Tasmania (where her daughter lives) that coincided with her birthday?

MORE FROM PAUL WILLIAMS: Is it possible Pauline Hanson is learning?

3. At least Pauline puts Australia first.

Really? Is that why she wanted to move to the UK in 2010?

4. At least One Nation is transparent and accountable.

Really? Is that why James Ashby admitted in court that a company he runs failed to declare PHON’s receipt of a donated aeroplane?

James Ashby, Pauline Hanson and Steve Dickson were caught discussing the upcoming federal election with NRA representatives. Picture: AAP/Dan Peled

5. At least Pauline wants to look after Australia’s most vulnerable.

Really? In the same way she demands autistic kids be removed from mainstream schools? Or how a benign Safe Schools program designed to protect gay and transgender kids from homophobic attacks is demonised as a Marxist plot to force boys to wear dresses? Or by demanding indigenous Australians be forced to take DNA tests? Or by defending international bullies like Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin?

6. One Nation is a far more democratic party than the mainstream parties.

Really? As in how Hanson declared herself “president for life”? Or how former members, candidates and MP describe the party as dictatorial?

MORE FROM PAUL WILLIAMS: Our pollies need to learn the art of the apology

7. But Hanson is not a racist.

Really? So why did she move the appallingly provocative “It’s OK to be white” motion — a well-known white nationalist meme — in the Senate?

8. At least Pauline is respectful.

Really? Is it respectful to call the PM a “fool”, or former Labor Senator Sam Dastyari a “pip squeak” and “smart arse” immediately after he suffered racial abuse?

When you look at Pauline Hanson’s track record of getting things done, it’s pretty bare. Picture: Kym Smith

9. At least Pauline doesn’t lie like elite politicians.

Really? What about her claim during her 2016 Senate maiden speech when she attributed her defeat in Blair in 1998 to “the introduction of full preferential voting”? Australia has never used optional preferential voting at federal level, and had used compulsory preferential since 1918. The truth is that just 46.6 per cent of Blair voters (after preferences) wanted Hanson, and 53.4 per cent, a majority, did not.

10. Pauline understands complex issues better than most politicians.

Really? As in advising parents to have their child undergo a non-existent vaccination “test”, or in proposing a 2 per cent cascading income tax rate that would bankrupt the country?

MORE FROM PAUL WILLIAMS: Conspiracy theories are just lies spread by attention seekers

11. Pauline is really sharp as a tack.

Really? As in her confusing the NRA with the NRMA?

12. At least Pauline gets things done.

Really? Name one thing.

Please, Australia. Enough is enough.

Our country faces plenty of steep challenges without being compromised by self-seeking, intellectually lazy and morally bankrupt fringe dwellers determined to undermine our liberal democracy.

This election, put One Nation out with the recycling.

Paul Williams is a columnist for The Courier-Mail.